TechPoint Mira Awards Honor ‘The Best of Tech in Indiana’

MOBI, ClusterTruck, ClearObject, DoubleMap, One Click, DemandJump, Fizziology and Arrhythmotech Among Top Honorees

TechPoint, the growth initiative for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana companies, entrepreneurs, educators, and other leaders at The Westin Indianapolis during the 18th annual Mira Awards gala presented by Angie’s List, Genesys, and Salesforce.

A total of 15 award winners and three honorable mentions were chosen from the 90 outstanding companies, organizations, and individuals who were selected as nominees this year out of the 180 applications received highlighting achievements during the 2016 calendar year.

Fifty independent, volunteer judges spent more than 800 total hours reviewing and ranking applications, interviewing nominees, and selecting this year’s winners. Judges included company founders, CEOs and presidents, CTOs, CIOs, software developers, and a variety of other entrepreneurs and subject matter experts.

The Mira Awards—Indiana’s longest running technology awards program—amplify success stories of some of the very best Indiana startups, scale-ups, and established tech companies, which helps them win new customers, attract investment capital, and acquire skilled talent. The Mira Awards are a large, annual part of TechPoint’s mission to accelerate tech growth in Indiana.

“Each year, the Mira Awards get bigger and better. Tickets sold out well over a month in advance, and the Westin was bursting at the seams with 1,000 people, including tech leaders, the governor and the mayor. ” said Mike Langellier, President and CEO of TechPoint. “In addition to the individual, company and innovation recognition we honor our tech community’s growth and success.In 2016, the majority of new jobs announcements were from tech companies, and three-fourths of the venture capital investments made in Indiana companies were in tech companies. Both of these measures mean more high-paying jobs for Hoosiers. We are also seeing more large companies in other industries joining the tech community and becoming tech-enabled, an important development for Indiana’s future economy.”

In March this year, TechPoint announced the three winners of the first-ever People’s Choice Mira Awards selected by public voting for for Best Tech Event (ClearObject), Best Tech T-Shirt or Swag (WebLink), and Best Tech Space (Upper Hand).

Full List of the 2017 TechPoint Mira Award winners and honorees:
(Descriptions of the companies or individuals and why they were chosen are below.)

Rising Star Award (Lindsay Siovaila, Lead Solutions Developer, Salesforce) Graphic designer turned self-taught software developer, Lindsay Siovaila founded the Indianapolis chapter of Girl Develop It, a non-profit organization that offers affordable and judgment-free opportunities for women interested in learning web and software development. She is a results-driven developer who has a passion for innovation, learning, and helping others. READ MORE

Tech Educator of the Year (Julie Alano, Computer Science Department Chair, Hamilton Southeastern High School) Julie Alano began her career teaching math in 1998 at Hamilton Southeastern High School, and a year later she added an experimental computer science class to her course lineup. Nearly 20 years later, Alano’s influence on the district’s computer science footprint extends from kindergarten through eighth grade and four levels of CS instruction at HSE High School. READ MORE

Investor of the Year (Jeff Barry, Partner, Plymouth Growth Partners) Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Plymouth Growth Partners is a growth-stage venture capital firm that specializes in Midwest tech companies. Plymouth has invested over $10 million in Indiana tech companies, including two large 2016 investments in internet of things (IoT) convener ClearObject and cloud solutions integrator Kinney Group, both fast-growing scale-up companies. READ MORE

Trailblazer in Technology (Angie Hicks, Co-founder and CMO, Angie’s List) Angie Hicks’ personal story of taking a big risk and persevering is an inspiration to a generation of Hoosier entrepreneurs who are following in her footsteps and choosing to build their businesses in Indiana. Hicks co-founded Angie’s List in 1995 and today the company employs more than 1,500 people in Indianapolis and has more than five million members. READ MORE

TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder Award (Mark Hill, Co-founder and former CEO, Baker Hill) Mark Hill is a founding board member of the TechPoint Foundation for Youth and longtime supporter of education innovation. He was instrumental in launching the Foundation’s largest Greenhouse Initiative 10 years ago — New Tech High @ Arsenal Tech. Hill’s commitment and support will continue to impact thousands of students for years to come. READ MORE

Community Champion of the Year (Joshua Driver, Founder, Open for Service) Joshua Driver started a movement to circumvent negative perceptions of Indiana created by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which many perceived as a license to discriminate. Driver created Open For Service, an inclusive network of businesses that would not turn someone away based on sexual orientation, gender, race, disability, or political/religious affiliation. Today, Open for Service has resources and listings in all 50 states and 20 countries worldwide. READ MORE

Innovation of the Year (Arrhythmotech) The neuECG(TM) platform by Arrhythmotech is a novel medical device and software platform capable of detecting sympathetic nerve signaling (fight-or-flight activity) non-invasively on the skin. The practical applications for this innovation could be revolutionary for clinical indications like detecting pain, epilepsy or atrial fibrillation; as well as wearable technology markets like stress and fraud detection and human performance. READ MORE

Best New Tech Product (DemandJump) After raising the bar with its Artificial Intelligence Marketing (AIM) platform and helping clients increase revenues by triple digits, DemandJump had a breakthrough that led to DemandJump Advanced Search, which prevents wasted spending in areas where up to 79 percent of the ads being served are missing their mark. READ MORE

Tech Service of the Year (Fizziology) Fizziology is the leading social media research firm and digital consultancy for the entertainment industry. The company’s unparalleled dataset of consumer opinion, predictive analytics and industry-leading benchmarks make Fizziology a rare gatekeeper, trusted by most of the top film studios, as well as television networks, producers and Fortune 500 brands. READ MORE

Corporate Innovator of the Year (ClusterTruck) ClusterTruck has rebuilt the concept of food delivery from the ground up, delivering restaurant-quality (locally sourced) food faster than anyone else can by using technology and data to streamline the whole process. The company’s innovative approach to on-demand delivery improves on virtually every recognized food-service industry standard. READ MORE

Company Culture of the Year (One Click) When entrepreneurs Angie and Randy Stocklin started One Click they set out to be the world’s most people-focused eyewear company (One Click owns felix + iris, Readers.com, and Sunglass Warehouse), and they rely heavily on their unique company culture to drive all aspects of the business. In 2016, One Click was named to Entrepreneur magazine’s “Top Company Cultures” list and Inc. magazine’s “Best Workplaces.” READ MORE

New Start-up of the Year (ClusterTruck) Despite being in the most capital-intensive market with tremendous physical and logistical constraints, ClusterTruck posted higher 2016 revenue than all other startups in the category combined. The company’s collection and application of data to continuously improve proves its passion for being a customer-focused brand with designs to become a $100 million company with 50 locations in five years. READ MORE

Scale-up Company of the Year — $100K-$5M (DoubleMap) Transit software provider DoubleMap has continued building new products that have attracted top corporate customers like Disney and Universal Studios, as well as universities, cities and airports. DoubleMap has reinvested profits back into the company and achieved significant growth all without a dollar of outside money. READ MORE

Scale-up Company of the Year — $5M-$20M (ClearObject) As an Internet of things (IoT) innovator, ClearObject brings its years of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and virtual private cloud experience to the table serving as a convenor of knowledge and edge technologies to make IoT work, helping its clients bring their actual IoT products and projects to life in the real world. READ MORE

Tech Company of the Year—$20M+ (MOBI) MOBI hired 115 people last year, growing to more than 300 employees worldwide, added 34 new customers and expanded internationally to 30 countries. In just seven years, MOBI has evolved from a fast-growing startup to the industry-leading provider of software and services for enterprises to control their entire device ecosystems. READ MORE

About TechPoint
TechPoint is the nonprofit, industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s technology companies and overall tech ecosystem. The team is focused on attracting talent, accelerating scale-up companies, activating the community, and amplifying stories of success. For more, visit www.techpoint.org.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mira Awards logos and badges are available for download. Photos from the Mira Awards gala will be available on Facebook.